Russia Ready to Cooperate With Western Partners When Sanctions Lifted - FM

Russia is ready to cooperate with the United States and the European Union as soon as its Western partners lift their sanctions, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Wednesday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) – Relations between Russia and the European Union soured in 2014, when the West accused Russia of meddling in Ukraine's internal affairs, fueling a conflict in the country's southeast. Moscow has firmly denied the claim.

"We remain fully open to a resumption of a full-scale cooperation with the European Union and the United States. Of course, when our Western partners revise their current policy, which is based on the non-constructive language of ultimatums and illegitimate sanctions," Lavrov said in an address to the Russian State Duma.

The United States, the European Union and the allies have introduced several rounds of sanctions against Moscow over the Ukrainian crisis.

Russian authorities have refuted the accusations, observing that Western sanctions are counterproductive. In response to the Western measures, Russia announced in August 2014 a one-year food embargo on products originating in states that imposed sanctions. The ban has since been extended for an additional year.